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Sandy Spring-Ashton Rural Preservation
Consortium
The SSARPC (PreserveAshton.net)
supports development in Ashton that conforms to the
Master Plan.
We are pro-Master Plan, not anti-development.
Chevy Chase Bank Meeting
October 10, 2007
Sole D'Italia,
Ashton
Joe Pearson, Vice President, Real Estate Development,
Chevy Chase Bank, presented. He introduced other members of his team who
were there to answer specific questions.
Since the last meeting in April, there have been a few
changes to the design. These have been made as a result of discussions
with the Montgomery County Park and Planning staff. A summary of the
changes are:
- The bank entrance was
moved down Porter Road by about one car length
- There will be two exits
from the bank. One exit will be a right turn only lane from the
bank site. The other will be from Porter Road allowing customers
to go either left or right on to Route 108.
- The size of the bank has
been reduced slightly and there are now three drive through lanes
instead of four. The building is now 10 feet shorter.
- There will be two small
condensers in the back of the building near the drive through
lanes. This will be more energy efficient than the original
design. The bank is in the process of reviewing the design with
the “green” council.
On October 23 the Bank will be officially filing its plans
with Montgomery County Park and Planning.
People who live behind the proposed bank building are very
concerned about the entrance to the bank from Porter Road. That road is
county owned, but is not maintained by the county. It is a narrow road
that was paved by the residents, who also do all the snow removal
themselves. The bank intends to maintain the road from the entrance to
Route 108.
The residents on Porter Road say that it is currently very
difficult to exit onto Route 108 from Porter Road and the additional traffic
from the Bank will make this even more difficult. In order to turn left
onto Route 108, people usually turn right and then turn around because it is
very difficult to get through the traffic. It’s not uncommon to
wait 8-10 minutes if one decides to turn left directly onto Route
108. There will be improvements to Route 108 and it is unclear
how those changes will affect getting out from Porter Road.
Also, the close proximity of the Alloway Building and
Ashton Baptist Church parking lots on New Hampshire Avenue could be a
security issue for the Bank, especially with the ATM machines. The bank
might need to put some type of barrier to restrict entrance by people via
that route. Sometimes the Porter Road residents park in these areas to
avoid exiting from Porter Road onto Route 108, and there was a concern
expressed that they want to have this option, especially with the bank being
built.
The Bank plans to provide a substantial amount of
landscaping. The trees that will be planted will be 3 inches in
diameter.
The Olney Gazette’s meeting summary can be read here.
To see the handout provided by Chevy Chase Bank at the
meeting, click here.
For further information or to provide your input to the
Chevy Chase Bank, contact:
Joe Pearson
Vice President, Real Estate Development
Chevy Chase Bank
7501 Wisconsin Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20814
240-497-7032
jbpearson@chevychasebank.net
If you would like to contact the Park and Planning Staff,
address correspondence to:
Catherine Conlon
Development Review
MNCPPC
Attn: Chevy Chase Bank
8787 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910
catherine.conlon@mncppc-mc.org
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